Gavekal Research

Charles Gave

May 02nd 2019

Despite inflation remaining muted, Wednesday saw the Federal Reserve stand pat on interest rates. Having switched to an overly dovish stance early this year, Fed Chairman Jay Powell remains wary of changing tack and easing policy as he worries about inflationary pressure bubbling up from an economy that looks to be fully occupied. For his part, Charles is less nuanced and believes the US will shortly flip over into an environment where inflation...

Gavekal Dragonomics

Tom Miller

May 01st 2019

China’s much-criticized Belt and Road Initiative will become “open, green and clean,” Xi Jinping pledged last week. Do these new promises mean an end to the debt traps, kickbacks and white elephants that the infrastructure spree has been accused of fostering? In this piece, Tom argues Beijing will struggle to fundamentally reform the initiative.

Gavekal Research

Will Denyer, Tan Kai Xian

Apr 29th 2019

The US first quarter GDP data released on Friday proved consistent with the picture of slower—but still positive—growth through 2019, and a continuation of the Goldilocks tailwind for asset markets. But after a strong run-up in equities this year, it might be time to ask what the greatest risk is to the current environment, and how to position for it.

Gavekal Research

Chen Long

Apr 26th 2019

In a year marked by unexpected US dollar strength, the renminbi is one of the few major currencies to be up against the dollar. The reason is simple enough: the resumption of trade talks between the US and China. Yet although a trade pact is now substantially priced in, there are reasons to believe the renminbi has further upside potential.

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

Apr 26th 2019

China’s response to the Fed’s QEII program in 2010 was to tighten monetary policy, as it feared a spill-over effect into inflation. Since that point China has seen credit growth progressively slow, making it an inhibitor to any global rebound in inflation. This orientation by China is changing as the focus of policy shifts away from crimping the shadow finance sector.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Rosealea Yao

Apr 25th 2019

China’s property market data has been surprising on the upside. Thanks to easier credit and looser administrative restrictions, sales volumes picked up in March and prices rose. In this paper, Rosealea examines whether the upturn can last, and assesses what it means for land sales, construction activity, materials prices and the broader economy.

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

Apr 24th 2019

On paper, this should have been a good year for health care stocks: global growth has disappointed, long term interest rates have fallen, the US yield curve for a brief while was inverted and a looming US-China trade deal should see China buy lots of health care gear and drugs from the US. Yet, even though the stars aligned, health care has been the worst performing major US equity sector this year. Notwithstanding a bounce yesterday, the sector...

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

Apr 23rd 2019

When the Fed launched QE2 in 2010, there was widespread fear that a great inflation beckoned. It has not exactly worked out that way. Louis considers the role energy played in a decade of becalmed US consumer prices. Yet, with oil prices again rising, he asks whether the market has grown complacent in its analysis of the relationship between oil and inflation.

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

Apr 18th 2019

As the Federal Reserve launched the second round of its quantitative easing, the fear was that the unorthodox monetary policy would ignite a new round of inflation—even hyper-inflation—throughout the world, with dramatic effects on asset prices. But inflation failed to materialize, and now nobody seems to be worried about it anymore.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Chen Long

Apr 17th 2019

The raft of economic data released by China on Wednesday morning suggests the world’s second largest economy is proving more responsive than expected to the authorities’ supportive policy measures. The question is no longer whether the government will hit its 2019 growth target, but whether the apparent success will make Beijing halt its easing.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Ernan Cui

Apr 16th 2019

The world’s deadliest pig disease is now established in the world’s largest pork market. The spread of African swine fever in China has been more severe than the government has admitted, and as a result pork prices are spiking and imports are surging. But as Ernan argues in this report, the impact of this epidemic is still only in its early stages.

Gavekal Research

Will Denyer

Apr 15th 2019

Happy days seem to be here again as risk assets soar on a dovish Federal Reserve and better growth outlook. Yet, investors should take note. The Fed has three official mandates; namely, to keep inflation low and stable, keep unemployment down, and keep interest rates low and stable. Yet among those “equals”, the first is thought to be bearing down on inflation.

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

Apr 12th 2019

The eurozone is rapidly becoming the Errol Flynn of global economies: it just never fails to disappoint. From weak German PMIs, through falling French industrial production, to Italy slipping back into recession, it is hard to think of a single European data point over the past 12 months that gave any reason for cheer. Will things get better over the coming months?

Gavekal Dragonomics

Lance Noble

Apr 11th 2019

Over the last two years, China has announced a series of steps intended to open market access for foreign businesses and ease its inward investment restrictions. In this paper, Lance examines these reforms and assess just how far they go towards leveling the playing field for foreign companies operating and investing in China.

Gavekal Research

Tan Kai Xian, Will Denyer

Apr 10th 2019

When the US slides into recession, it generally does so because of a contraction in investment, either in the corporate sector or in the housing market. Today, returns on capital invested in housing exceed the cost of capital, signalling a positive outlook for US residential investment, construction, house prices, and the shares of homebuilders.

Gavekal Research

Nick Andrews, Arthur Kroeber

Apr 09th 2019

Chinese premier Li Keqiang is in Brussels on Tuesday for the 21st EU-China summit, and the talks are likely to be testy. After much dithering and in response to much pressure from Washington, the EU has begun to take a more hardline posture towards China. The core EU countries share many of the concerns that motivate the US trade war with China.

Gavekal Research

Charles Gave

Apr 08th 2019

With the Brexit deadline in the rear view mirror, Britain's leave voters have are left with the impression that they have been taken for a ride by the UK’s political class, and in particular by their representatives in parliament. So who is the real sovereign power in the UK? The people or parliament? Charles sees three possible outcomes.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Rosealea Yao

Apr 05th 2019

Home sales in China fell by 3.6% in the first two months of 2019. This, however, was better than expected considering that this upcycle is now four years old. Lower mortgage rates and supportive policies by local governments should prop up demand, and Rosealea expects overall housing sales to decline a modest 2% for the year.

Gavekal Research

Nick Andrews

Apr 04th 2019

Behind the factors that have caused Germany’s factory slowdown, deeper structural trends are eroding the competitiveness of German industry. The gains Germany made by deploying labor more effectively since the late 1990s have now run out, and that there are few signs Germany is well positioned to deploy capital more efficiently in the future.

Gavekal Research

Tan Kai Xian

Apr 03rd 2019

After a wobble late last year, the US economy looks to be stabilizing. The Atlanta Fed has revised up its estimate for 1Q19 GDP growth to 2.1%, while more timely indicators such as mortgage applications, PMI readings and durable goods orders indicate a steadying of the ship.The question is how to play this development.

Gavekal Research

Tom Holland

Apr 02nd 2019

Last Thursday, with the price of oil approaching a four-and-a-half month high, Donald Trump took to Twitter. “Price of Oil getting too high.” Trump’s tweet had little effect, with Brent crude hitting US$69/bbl on Monday. Prices are likely to continue to push higher over the coming months towards 2018's highs—a troubling prospect.

Gavekal Research

Udith Sikand

Apr 01st 2019

Turkey has long been a market to steer well clear of, with investment opportunities poisoned by toxic politics and an ever-depreciating local currency. However, with the US Federal Reserve adopting a more dovish stance and following the weekend’s municipal elections, Turkish lira assets may now offer an attractive tactical opportunity.

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave, Charles Gave

Mar 29th 2019

The current yield curve inversion and softness in growth data are curious developments, given that the four prices that matter most for the global economy—long bond yields, corporate credit spreads, the oil price, and the value of the US dollar—are all relatively favorable. Louis and Charles weigh five different explanations for what may be going on—from bullish to highly bearish—and examine the investment implications.

Gavekal Research

Udith Sikand

Mar 28th 2019

With their high beta to global growth, emerging markets seldom outperform when investors begin to get nervous about the health of the global economy. So it is no surprise that the risk-off move of the last week has seen the Brazilian real and Argentinian peso each sold off by more than -5% against the US dollar, while the Turkish lira has been propped up only by a regulatory squeeze on liquidity. But the jitters have not affected all emerging...

Gavekal Research

Nick Andrews

Mar 27th 2019

Europe has an ambivalent relationship with China that is increasingly under scrutiny. The European Commission recently labelled China a “systemic rival” and France and Germany want to create corporate champions to compete against Chinese state owned enterprises. Europe, however, is not singing from the same hymn sheet.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Dan Wang, Yanmei Xie

Mar 26th 2019

For the freewheeling Chinese internet sector, regulatory risk arrived with a vengeance in 2018. Government actions hurt companies including Tencent in gaming, Didi Chuxing in ride-hailing, ByteDance in online media, and others. In this piece, Dan and Yanmei explain what drove these moves and how the new online regulatory environment will work.

Gavekal Research

Kai Xian Tan

Mar 25th 2019

On Friday, the three-month to 10-year portion of the US treasury curve inverted for the first time this cycle, heightening investors’ fears of impending recession. But although every US recession of recent decades has been preceded by an inversion of the yield curve, not every inversion has been followed by a recession; there have been cases of false positives.

Gavekal Research

Will Denyer, Kai Xian Tan

Mar 21st 2019

US monetary policy tightening is over, at least for now. While the Federal Reserve is not adding any more hooch to the punch bowl, chairman Jay Powell has promised to stop cutting his serving sizes. Although not much of a surprise, the Fed’s guidance is broadly positive for just about everything but US dollar cash—especially equities and real assets.

Gavekal Research

Tan Kai Xian

Mar 20th 2019

Just as the Federal Reserve eases up on monetary tightening and negotiators struggle to avert a trans-Pacific trade war, the US consumer is emerging as the next source of worry. Americans are deferring big-ticket purchases, consumer confidence readings have softened and retail sales growth has slowed. Suddenly, the picture looks similar to the 2015-16 soft patch, or worse still it resembles the phase leading up to the 2008 crisis, when an...

Gavekal Research

Nick Andrews

Mar 19th 2019

European banking stocks have been battered for much of the last four years by negative interest rates and a Brussels plan to impose market discipline through shareholder bail-ins rather than public bail-outs. This approach is now in question as Germany embraces a new industrial strategy that will rely on strong state-backed banks taking political direction.

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

Mar 18th 2019

The "yellow jackets” still protesting in France have so far received only tepid support from the country's usually vocal trade unions. Similarly, left-wing parties have also been very slow to take to the street. This begs the question of what the oracle of the French intelligentsia, Karl Marx, would have made of this protest movement.

Gavekal Research

Will Denyer

Mar 15th 2019

The Federal Reserve is debating a fundamental shift in its inflation targeting. Right now it's targeting 2% inflation no matter what it has been in the past, a so-called "bygones" policy. In this video interview Will discusses the consequences of switching to price-level targeting, where the aim is to keep average inflation over time at 2%.

Gavekal Dragonomics

Andrew Batson

Mar 14th 2019

China watchers have been bracing themselves for some ugly economic indicators in January and February. Yet the first official data for 2019 were not actually that bad. As Andrew explains, the economy is clearly slowing, but it’s not going into an uncontrolled dive. The government’s moderate policy response is thus still on track to steady growth.

Gavekal Research

Charles Gave

Mar 12th 2019

Germany is going through one of its periodic bouts of angst as its industrial economy faces up to cyclical headwinds, unwanted structural change and the threat of protectionism. I too have concerns about the fate of corporate Germany, but would approach the problem from the perspective of an equity investor.

Gavekal Research

Tan Kai Xian

Mar 11th 2019

On first reading, Friday’s US payroll report for February made grim reading for most investors. The screeching slowdown in non-farm hiring seemed to point to a US economy that is flirting with recession. To compound matters, wage growth seemes to point to a very tight labor market. On closer inspection, however, a less concerning picture is revealed.

Gavekal Research

Andrew Batson, Chen Long

Mar 08th 2019

In this research conference call, Andrew Batson and Chen Long discussed the improving outlook for the Chinese economy in 2019 and the implications for financial markets. Confirmation that the government is both willing and able to support growth has ignited an equity rally, while expectations of further easing measures still support bonds.

Gavekal Research

Charles Gave

Mar 07th 2019

“In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is,” Yogi Berra said. Take cutting interest rates as an example. According to Keynesian theory, reducing interest rates is a way to borrow from future demand in order to prevent a recession today.The theory is sound, but then comes the practice. And in Europe today, we are in practice up to our necks.

Gavekal Research

Will Denyer

Mar 06th 2019

The US Federal Reserve has said it is likely to end its process of balance sheet “normalization” sooner than previously planned. This sounds like an obscure monetary technicality, but it has important implications for investors. In this video interview Will explains why.

Gavekal Research

Andrew Batson, Chen Long

Mar 05th 2019

After a decade of rapid growth in debt, China’s government claims to be pursuing a different course. At this year’s legislative session, leaders dialed back growth targets, and pledged to control leverage and instead use fiscal policy to steady growth. Neither pledge can be taken at face value: growth will stabilize this year, but leverage will expand.

Gavekal Research

Cedric Gemehl, Nick Andrews

Mar 04th 2019

As the members of the European Central Bank’s governing council prepare to meet in Frankfurt this Thursday, they face the unsettling possibility that their policy settings may risk compounding, rather than alleviating, the eurozone’s economic weaknesses.Unfortunately for members of the council who may be inclined to dither, doing nothing is not a viable option.

Gavekal Research

Research Team

Mar 01st 2019

The prospect of a US-China deal on tariffs has already boosted China’s stock market and currency. But it won’t reverse China’s growth slowdown, which is largely the result of Beijing’s efforts to de-leverage the financial system. The good news is that credit growth is rebounding, which will stabilize growth in 2H18. Chinese bonds will rally a bit more, the renminbi will move up further against the US dollar, and Chinese and EM equities should...

Gavekal Research

Tom Miller

Feb 28th 2019

India and Pakistan engaged in air-to-air combat yesterday, raising the prospect of war between the two nuclear powers. Markets fell only marginally but are vulnerable if the conflict escalates, which for the moment looks unlikely. If Modi keeps his nerve, the crisis could put the BJP on a sure path to victory in May’s general election, heralding a rally in Indian asset prices.

Gavekal Research

Will Denyer, Tan Kai Xian

Feb 27th 2019

The Federal Reserve is talking about changing the way it targets inflation. Currently it tweaks policy in an attempt to zero in on a specific inflation rate: 2%. Under the framework it is discussing, instead it would aim to hit a price index level consistent with a particular long term average inflation rate. The distinction might sound subtle, but by targeting a price level, the Fed would compensate for any undershooting by attempting to...

Gavekal Research

Arthur Kroeber

Feb 26th 2019

So far, so predictable: President Donald Trump’s weekend tweets extending the deadline for US-China trade talks past March 1 made clear his intention to get a deal done, most likely in the second half of March when Xi Jinping pays a visit to Mar-a-Lago. A deal is now almost certain to happen; the live questions are what will be in it and what impact it will have.

Gavekal Research

Charles Gave

Feb 25th 2019

Going back to the mid-1980s, I have worked on the assumption that the US economy has been in the “deflationary” lower half of my four quadrants framework. My fear is that we may be moving into the inflationary top quadrants. If so, this means that in the bust phase of the cycle equities will have a positive correlation with bonds, and those bonds will offer much lower returns

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

Feb 22nd 2019

In recent days, news reports have pointed to an impending trade deal between the US and China. A tweet by the US president that seemed to favor Chinese tech firms has added to that expectation. In this piece, Louis considers two possible outcomes to these talks, with one offering markets a short-term fillip, and the other being a likely gamechanger that will impact investors’ performance for years to come.

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

Feb 21st 2019

In recent weeks, the US dollar has rallied, emerging markets have been strong and gold seems to be breaking out to the upside. That is an unusual combination, and in this video Louis outlines three possible explanations for the moves. Most provocatively, as the US-China trade talks get critical, he wonders if China is gearing up to accept a one-off revaluation of the renminbi.

Gavekal Research

Louis Gave

Feb 20th 2019

Reserves held by foreign central banks at the Fed are shrinking, which implies there aren’t enough US dollars in the system. This would make sense: the Fed has been draining excess US dollars for the past couple of years. So with shrinking central bank reserves and a shrinking US monetary base, the US dollar should be going up, and most risk assets should be hurting. Oddly, this isn’t happening.

Gavekal Research

Anatole Kaletsky

Feb 19th 2019

Now that stock markets around the world have recovered from the year-end panic of December 2018, it is worth returning to the question I posed here on the first trading day of 2019: was the disappointing performance of equities and other risk assets in 2018 the prelude to a deep and protracted bear market, or a contrarian opportunity to “buy the dip”?